There are a million things freshmen will hear during their first few scary days of college. Their parents tell them to behave, upperclassmen tell them not to wear lanyards and professors tell them that college will include the hardest academic work they’ve ever done.If you’re a freshman, the one thing that ruled your activities these past months was the thought of coming to Geneseo. You spent your summer at Bed Bath & Beyond. You cried and cut out pictures of your best friends to bring and returned their clothes back to them. How many “I can’t wait to get out of this lame town and go to college” tweets were sent?
This should be the best time of our lives––we’re finally college students. We’re supposed to be meeting people, forgetting about high school and ultimately feeling ten times more mature.
That’s not the case, however. Everyone always mentions how cool it is to have this freedom; to live with friends and go out whenever you want, but no one mentions the nights you spend on the phone with you mom because you miss her homemade dinners. The long FaceTime chats you will have with your significant other, missing each other more than you could ever imagine are never discussed. No one mentions the sting of losing the high school senior status and being thrown back to the bottom.
These things take time to learn to adjust to; it takes meeting new people and embracing change. Change is never easy and it is ok to feel alone sometimes. It happens to you, your roommate––it’s going to happen every now and then until you graduate. Even when you decide to go to graduate school or get a job, there will still be times when you feel alone.
The most important advice I can give is that it is okay to slowly adjust and take time for yourself. Go explore everything Geneseo has to offer when you are ready. Pay attention in class and remember how lucky you are to attend this school. Learn to love (or like) the people you live with. Discover the local spots you’ll love to frequent regularly.
Have confidence in yourself. Remember just how many students are feeling the same anxieties that you have. If you give yourself time, you can make college feel like it’s your home.